One thing that I love about Scripture is its brutal honesty. Nothing is sugar-coated. The bad guys are really bad, and the good guys, well they tend to be pretty bad too except of course Jesus. Moses was a murderer, David was an adulterer, the Apostle John was a deserter and Peter was a betrayer. One such person that made a prominent rise in the New Testament was Paul, formerly know as Saul.
We know that in the time before Saul's conversion and name-change he was literally hunting down followers of Jesus and turning them over to be imprisoned, beaten and possibly even killed. However God had other plans for Saul. On a road trip to Damascus Saul saw the light, literally, and decided that instead of fighting the followers of Jesus he should become their chief spokesperson.
Approximately 20 years later Paul is now traveling the known world telling people about the risen Savior and starting churches with those new converts. Paul then begins to write a series of letters to some of those churches to give them advice on ministry and living in a Christ-centered way. In the book of 2 Corinthians we see a vulnerable side of Paul where he admits that something has been eating away at him.
2 Corinthians 12:7b So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
Since the day that Paul penned these words people have been speculating as to what this “thorn” could have been. Maybe it was a person that was getting on his nerves? Maybe it was an addiction? Perhaps it was an eye problem? It could have even been the constant barrage of persecutions he faced. Either way, we are left to wonder.
I am actually glad that we don't know what Paul's thorn was. If we did, we might understand some of Paul's struggles, but we wouldn't understand our own any better. Since Paul did not tell us what thorn he was facing we are free to examine the thorns in our own life. Whatever this affliction was is seemed to bother Paul quite a bit. So much so that he says that he was begging God to take it away from him.
2 Corinthians 12:8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.
The problem was that God didn't take it away. Paul begged and pleaded and yet this
thorn stayed firmly embedded. Where was God when Paul needed him?
As a tech director you may have felt a similar sense of desperation that Paul felt in these verses. If you are much like Paul there is a chance that you also have a thorn in your flesh. Is it a difficult person that you live with or work with? Is it an addiction that you can't seem to control. Maybe it's a physical ailment that you have been praying for relief? I don't know what your thorn is, but I know what mine is. And the same words that God spoke to Paul should be an encouragement to you as well.
2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
God's grace is all you need. You need God's grace more that you need the thorn pulled out from your flesh. Whatever it is that you are facing, God's grace is enough. God's strength doesn't work best in the areas we are strongest. No, his strength works best in our weak areas. So, let's not be angry and ashamed about the thorn in our life. Instead, let's take Paul's approach and boast about out weaknesses. Because that's when Christ's power works best.
